Enhanced femtocell with on-premise private network slice controller and multi-access edge computing service

ABSTRACT

A device may include a memory storing instructions and processor configured to execute the instructions to receive a request for a connection from a user equipment (UE) device via cellular wireless signals and detect that the request identifies the connection as a private local data connection associated with a private network. The processor may be further configured to select a private application service network slice, from a plurality of network slices, for the connection, in response to detecting that the request identifies the connection as a private local data connection, and route packets associated with the connection to destination devices in the private network using wireless signals while preventing the packets associated with the connection from leaving the private network via a backhaul connection associated with the device.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

To satisfy the needs and demands of users of mobile communicationdevices, providers of wireless communication services continue toimprove and expand available services as well as networks used todeliver such services. One aspect of such improvements includes thedevelopment of wireless access networks as well as options to utilizesuch wireless access networks. A wireless access network may manage alarge number of devices using different types of services andexperiencing various types of different conditions, such as differentradio frequency (RF) environments. Managing all the various types of RFenvironments that may arise poses various challenges.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an environment according to an implementationdescribed herein;

FIG. 2 illustrates exemplary components of a device that may be includedin the environment of FIG. 1 according to an implementation describedherein;

FIG. 3 illustrates exemplary components of the femtocell of FIG. 1according to an implementation described herein;

FIG. 4 illustrates exemplary components of the network slice database ofFIG. 3 according to an implementation described herein;

FIG. 5 illustrates exemplary components of the Multi-access EdgeComputing (MEC) database of FIG. 3 according to an implementationdescribed herein;

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of a process for configuring a femtocellaccording to an implementation described herein;

FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of a process for managing data traffic ina femtocell according to an implementation described herein;

FIG. 8 illustrates a first exemplary signal flow according to animplementation described herein; and

FIG. 9 illustrates a second exemplary signal flow according to animplementation described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings.The same reference numbers in different drawings identify the same orsimilar elements.

While an enterprise may choose to use WiFi Access Points (AP) to providewireless communication inside a building, WiFi communication based onthe Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11family of standards may not provide the same level of security as acellular wireless connections, such as, for example, a Fourth Generation(4G) Long Term Evolution (LTE) connection or a Fifth Generation (5G) NewRadio (NR) connection. However, wireless cellular coverage may suffer inindoor environments due to various forms of interference.

For example, a 5G network may utilizing high frequency millimeter (mm)wave bands, and/or lower frequency bands such as Sub 6 Gigahertz (GHz),to provide high bandwidth and high data throughput with low latencyapplications, such as, for example, as Ultra-Reliable Low LatencyCommunication (URLLC) and massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC). Themm wave bandwidths utilized by 5G networks may have poor penetrationinto indoor environments.

In order to extend cellular wireless signal coverage in indoor settings,a provider of wireless communication services may deploy a femtocell. Afemtocell may be a small, low-power cellular base station. A femtocellmay improve user experience in an indoor environment that wouldotherwise experience weak cellular coverage. A femtocell may use anexisting Internet connection as a backhaul connection to a provider'score network, rather than having a direct connection to the core networklike larger base station (which may be referred to as “macrocells”). Forexample, to reach an application server, a user's data may pass throughthe femtocell to a router or switch (and firewall) and then through anInternet Service Provider (ISP) gateway device to reach the corenetwork. To enter the core network (e.g., a 4G core network), the datamay pass through a Secure Gateway (SeGW), followed by a Serving Gateway(SGW), followed by a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (PGW), then tothe Internet or a PDN that includes the application server.

Thus, the data may need to traverse several network devices to reach itsdestination, which may offset the benefits of low latency provided by5G. For example, the latency may be higher than 100 milliseconds (ms),which may be too high for Low Latency Communications (LLC), Ultra-LowLatency Communications (ULLC), or URLLC applications. Furthermore,packet delivery rate may not be reliable enough due to packet loss andfragmentation. Additionally, the data may not be secure. For example, anenterprise, such as a business, government agency, or organization maymaintain a private network and may desire that data sent and receivedwithin the private network does not leave the private network.

Implementations described herein relate to an enhanced femtocell with anon-premise network slice controller and private MEC service. Thefemtocell may include a network slice controller that manages networkslices in a private network and assigns each data connection to aparticular network slice, such as, for example, an enhanced MobileBroadband (eMBB) slice, a URLLC slice, an mMTC slice, and/or anothertype of network slice associated with a particular type of networktraffic. Network slicing is a form of virtual network architecture thatenables multiple logical networks to be implemented on top of a commonshared physical infrastructure using software defined networking (SDN)and/or network function virtualization (NFV). Each logical network,referred to as a “network slice,” may encompass an end-to-end virtualnetwork with dedicated storage and/or computation resources, mayimplement its own set of network functions, may be configured toimplement a different set of requirements and/or priorities, and/or maybe associated with a particular Quality of Service (QoS) class, type ofservice, and/or particular enterprise customer associated with a set ofUE devices.

For example, the femtocell may receive a request for a connection from auser equipment (UE) device via cellular wireless signals, determine thatthe request identifies the connection as an eMBB connection, select theeMBB network slice for the connection, and route packets associated withthe connection to a core network associated with a provider of cellularwireless communication services via the backhaul link. Moreover, thefemtocell may determine when a connection is associated with anapplication configured for Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) and mayroute packets associated with the application to a MEC device in a cloudMEC network associated with the provider via the backhaul link.

Furthermore, the network slice controller in the femtocell may beconfigured to generate and manage a private application service networkslice (e.g., a mission critical computer vision processing, patient datasubject to privacy laws, secure financial information, etc.). Theprivate application service network slice may provide a privateapplication service for a private network associated with the femtocell.If a connection is assigned to the private application service networkslice, the femtocell may ensure that packets associated with theconnection stay in the private network by preventing the packetsassociated with the connection from being sent via backhaul connectionassociated with the femtocell.

Thus, the femtocell may be configured to receive a request for aconnection from a UE device via cellular wireless signals, detect thatthe request is a request for a private local data connection associatedwith a private network, and select, from a set of available networkslices, the private application service network slice for theconnection, in response to detecting that the request is a request for aprivate local data connection associated with a private network. Thefemtocell may then route packets associated with the connection todestination devices in the private network using cellular wirelesssignals, while preventing the packets associated with the connectionfrom leaving the private network via the backhaul link of the femtocell.

Furthermore, the femtocell may be configured to provide a private MECservice associated with the private application service network slice. Aprivate MEC service may provide MEC services within a private networkand by a femtocell, or within geographical and/or network-topologicalproximity to the femtocell. Thus, a private MEC service may provide MECat lower latencies that a cloud MEC device reachable via a cellularwireless core network.

The private MEC service may include a central MEC device in the privatenetwork and/or distributed MEC units associated with the femtocell. Forexample, one or more femtocells in the private network may includedistributed MEC units that may be implemented, for example, in a pod orcontainer managed by the femtocell. The femtocell may route packets forapplications for which MEC has been configured to the central MEC deviceor to a distributed MEC unit. For example, the femtocell may determinethat an application identifier (ID) is configured for MEC, receive anapplication packet associated with an application ID, and route theapplication packet to either central MEC device or a distributed MECunit, based on whether the application has been configured to use thecentralized MEC device or the distributed MEC units, and/or based on theavailability, capacity, and/or workload associated with the distributedMEC units managed by the femtocell.

The femtocell may include a dashboard functionality that enables anadministrator to configure the femtocell for the private network. Forexample, the dashboard of the femtocell may provide a network sliceconfiguration Application Programming Interface (API), to a UE deviceassociated with an administrator, which enables the administrator toconfigure particular network slices. For example, the femtocell mayreceive, via the network slice configuration API, informationidentifying an application ID that is to be assigned to the privateapplication service network slice and assigning the application ID tothe private application service network slice. The femtocell may beconfigured for multiple different private application service networkslices. Additionally, the network slice configuration API may enable theadministrator to configure QoS classes for the private applicationservice network slice. For example, the femtocell may receive, via thenetwork slice configuration API, information identifying QoS classes forthe private application service network slice and configure the QoSclasses for the private application service network slice.

As another example, the dashboard of the femtocell may provide a MECconfiguration API, to a UE device associated with an administrator,which enables the administrator to configure MEC for the privateapplication service network slice. For example, the femtocell mayreceive, via the MEC configuration API, information identifying anapplication ID for an application that is to be processed using MEC androute packets associated with the identified application ID to a MECdevice associated with the private application service network slice.Additionally, the MEC configuration API may enable an administrator toactivate deactivate, and/or modify distributed MEC units. For example,the femtocell may receive, via the MEC configuration API, an instructionto activate a distributed MEC unit, information identifying anapplication ID to route to the distributed MEC unit, and route packetsassociated with the identified application ID to the distributed MECunit.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an exemplary environment 100 in which the systemsand/or methods, described herein, may be implemented. As shown in FIG.1, environment 100 may include UE devices 110-A to 110-N (referred toherein collectively as “UE devices 110” and individually as “UEdevice”), femtocells 120-A to 120-X (referred to herein collectively as“femtocells 120” and individually as “femtocell 120”), private network130, application servers 140-A to 140-Y (referred to herein collectivelyas “application servers 140” and individually as “application server140”), central MEC device 150, core network 160, MEC network 170, radioaccess network (RAN) 180, and packet data networks (PDNs) 190-A to 190-K(referred to herein collectively as “PDNs 190” and individually as “PDN190”).

UE device 110 may include any device with cellular wirelesscommunication functionality. For example, UE device 110 may include ahandheld wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, a smartphone, a tablet device, etc.); a wearable computer device (e.g., ahead-mounted display computer device, a head-mounted camera device, awristwatch computer device, etc.); a laptop computer, a tablet computer,or another type of portable computer; a desktop computer; a customerpremises equipment (CPE) device, such as a set-top box or a digitalmedia player (e.g., Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, etc.),a WiFi access point, a smart television, etc.; a portable gaming system;a global positioning system (GPS) device; a home appliance device; ahome monitoring device; and/or any other type of computer device withwireless communication capabilities and a user interface. UE device 110may include capabilities for voice communication, mobile broadbandservices (e.g., video streaming, real-time gaming, premium Internetaccess etc.), best effort data traffic, and/or other types ofapplications.

In some implementations, UE device 110 may communicate usingmachine-to-machine (M2M) communication, such as MTC, and/or another typeof M2M communication for Internet of Things (IoT) applications. Forexample, UE device 110 may include a health monitoring device (e.g., ablood pressure monitoring device, a blood glucose monitoring device,etc.), an asset tracking device (e.g., a system monitoring thegeographic location of a fleet of vehicles, etc.), a traffic managementdevice (e.g., a traffic light, traffic camera, road sensor, roadillumination light, etc.), a climate controlling device (e.g., athermostat, a ventilation system, etc.), a device controlling anelectronic sign (e.g., an electronic billboard, etc.), a devicecontrolling a manufacturing system (e.g., a robot arm, an assembly line,etc.), a device controlling a security system (e.g., a camera, a motionsensor, a window sensor, etc.), a device controlling a power system(e.g., a smart grid monitoring device, a utility meter, a faultdiagnostics device, etc.), a device controlling a financial transactionsystem (e.g., a point-of-sale terminal, an automated teller machine, avending machine, a parking meter, etc.), and/or another type ofelectronic device.

Femtocell 120 may provide a cellular wireless connection from UE devices110 to private network 130. For example, femtocell may include a radiofrequency (RF) transceiver configured to communicate with UE devicesusing a 5G NR air interface using a 5G NR protocol stack, a 4G LTE airinterface using a 4G LTE protocol stack, and/or using another type ofcellular air interface. Femtocell 120 may authenticate UE device 110with a subscriber management device (e.g., Home Subscriber Server (HSS)in 4G, Unified Data Management (UDM) in 5G, etc.) and may establish anencrypted wireless communication channel with UE device 110 (e.g., usingInternet Protocol Security (IPSec), Transport Layer Security (TLS),etc.) using a symmetric key handshake. Furthermore, femtocell 120 mayinclude a network slice manager that manages network slices, including aprivate application service network slice associated with privatenetwork 130. Furthermore, femtocell may manage MEC within privatenetwork 130 by enabling UE devices 110 to connect to MEC network 170, tocentral MEC device 150, and/or to distributed MEC units within and/ormanaged by femtocell 120. Femtocell 120 may use the infrastructure ofprivate network 130 to provide a backhaul link 135 to core network 160.Femtocells 120 may facilitate handovers in private network 130. Forexample, UE device 110 may move from a service area of a first femtocell120 to the service area of a second femtocell 120 (e.g., in a differentarea of a building, etc.) and a connection may be handed over from thefirst femtocell 120 to the second femtocell 120 in response.

Private network 130 may include a Layer 2 and/or Layer 3 networkassociated with an enterprise, such as business, production plant,medical facility, organization, government agency, and/or another typeof enterprise. Private network 130 may enable femtocells 120,application servers 140, and/or central MEC device 150 to communicatewith each other, to communicate with core network 160, and/or tocommunicate with PDNs 190.

Application servers 140 may each provide an application service for UEdevices 110 via private network 130. For example, application server 140may host a web site or an application used or accessed by UE device 110,may collect information from UE devices 110 or send instructions to UEdevices 110 (e.g., in MTC applications, etc.), and/or may otherwisecommunicate and/or interact with UE devices 110.

Central MEC device 150 may provide one or more MEC services to UEdevices 110. As an example, a MEC service may include a serviceassociated with a particular application, such as a content deliverysystem that provides streaming video on demand, an audio streamingservice, a real-time online game, a virtual reality application, amedical or health monitoring application, and/or another type ofapplication with a low latency requirement. As another example, a MECservice may include a cloud computing service, such as cache storage,use of artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators for machine learningcomputations, image processing, data compression, locally centralizedgaming, use of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and/or other types ofhardware accelerators for processing of graphic information and/or othertypes of parallel processing, and/or other types of cloud computingservices. As yet another example, a MEC service may include a networkservice, such as authentication, for example via a certificate authorityfor a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) system, a local Domain Name System(DNS) service, implementation of a virtual network function (VNF),and/or another type of network service. As yet another example, a MECservice may include control of IoT devices, such as hosting anapplication server for autonomous vehicles, a security system, amanufacturing and/or robotics system, and/or another type of IoT system.

Core network 160 may be managed by a provider of cellular wirelesscommunication services and may manage communication sessions ofsubscribers connecting to core network 160 via femtocells 120 and/or viaRAN 180. For example, core network 160 may establish an InternetProtocol (IP) connection between UE devices 110 and PDN 190.

In some implementations, core network 160 may include an LTE corenetwork (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) network). An EPC network mayinclude devices that implement network functions that include a MobilityManagement Entity (MME) for control plane processing, authentication,mobility management, tracking and paging, and activating anddeactivating bearers; an SGW that provides an access point to and fromUE devices, acts as a local anchor point during handovers, and directsgateway to a PGW; a PGW that functions as a gateway to a particularpacket data network 160; a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF)that implements policy and charging rules functions, such asestablishment of Quality of Service (QoS) requirements, setting allowedbandwidth and/or data throughput limits for particular bearers, and/orother policies; and an HSS that stores subscription information for UEdevices, including subscription profiles that include authentication andaccess authorization information, group device memberships, subscriptionprivileges, and/or other types of subscription information.

In other implementations, core network 160 may include a 5G corenetwork. A 5G core network may include devices that implement networkfunctions that include an Access and Mobility Function (AMF) to performregistration management, connection management, reachability management,mobility management, and/or lawful intercepts; an SMF to perform sessionmanagement, session modification, session release, IP allocation andmanagement, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) functions, andselection and control of a UPF; a UPF to serve as a gateway to packetdata network 160, act as an anchor point, perform packet inspection,routing, and forwarding, perform QoS handling in the user plane, uplinktraffic verification, transport level packet marking, downlink packetbuffering, and/or other type of user plane functions; an ApplicationFunction (AF) to provide services associated with a particularapplication; a UDM to manage subscription information, handle useridentification and authentication, and perform access authorization; aPolicy Control Function (PCF) to support policies to control networkbehavior, provide policy rules to control plane functions, accesssubscription information relevant to policy decisions, and performpolicy decisions; a Charging Function (CHF) to perform charging andbilling functions; a Network Repository Function (NRF) to supportservice discovery, registration of network function instances, andmaintain profiles of available network function instances; a NetworkExposure Function (NEF) to expose capabilities and events to othernetwork functions, including third party network functions; a NetworkSlice Selection Function (NSSF) to select a network slice instance toserve a particular UE device; and/or other types of network functions.

MEC network 170 may provide MEC services for UE devices 110 attached viafemtocell 120 and/or via RAN 180. MEC network 170 may interface with RAN180 and/or with core network 160 via a MEC gateway device (not shown inFIG. 1). MEC network 170 may include a cloud MEC device 175. Cloud MECdevice 175 may provide cloud MEC services, such as the MEC servicesdescribed above with respect to central MEC device 150.

RAN 180 may include one or more macrocells 185. Each macrocell 185 mayinclude devices and/or components configured to enable cellular wirelesscommunication with UE devices 110. Macrocell 185 may include a 5G NRbase station (e.g., a gNodeB) and/or a 4G LTE base station (e.g., aneNodeB). Core network 160 may facilitate handovers between femtocell 120and macrocell 185. For example, if UE device 110 leaves a buildingserviced by femtocell 120, a connection of UE device 120 may be handedover to macrocell 185. Similarly, if UE device 110 enters the building,a connection may be handed over from macrocell 185 to femtocell 120. Insome implementations, femtocell 120 may prevent a connection associatedwith a private application service network slice from being handed overto macrocell 185 in order to keep the connection within private network130.

Packet data networks 190-A to 190-N may each include a packet datanetwork. A particular packet data network 160 may be associated with anAccess Point Name (APN) and a UE device may request a connection to theparticular packet data network 190 using the APN. Packet data network190 may include, and/or be connected to and enable communication with, alocal area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a metropolitan areanetwork (MAN), an autonomous system (AS) on the Internet, an opticalnetwork, a cable television network, a satellite network, a wirelessnetwork (e.g., a CDMA network, a general packet radio service (GPRS)network, and/or an LTE network), an ad hoc network, a telephone network(e.g., the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) or a cellularnetwork), an intranet, or a combination of networks.

Although FIG. 1 shows exemplary components of environment 100, in otherimplementations, environment 100 may include fewer components, differentcomponents, differently arranged components, or additional componentsthan depicted in FIG. 1. Additionally, or alternatively, one or morecomponents of environment 100 may perform functions described as beingperformed by one or more other components of environment 100.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating example components of a device 200according to an implementation described herein. The components ofenvironment 100 may each include, or be implemented on, one or moredevices 200. As shown in FIG. 2, device 200 may include a bus 210, aprocessor 220, a memory 230, an input device 240, an output device 250,and a communication interface 260.

Bus 210 may include a path that permits communication among thecomponents of device 200. Processor 220 may include any type ofsingle-core processor, multi-core processor, microprocessor, latch-basedprocessor, central processing unit (CPU), graphics processing unit(GPU), tensor processing unit (TPU), hardware accelerator, and/orprocessing logic (or families of processors, microprocessors, and/orprocessing logics) that interprets and executes instructions. In otherembodiments, processor 220 may include an application-specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA),and/or another type of integrated circuit or processing logic.

Memory 230 may include any type of dynamic storage device that may storeinformation and/or instructions, for execution by processor 220, and/orany type of non-volatile storage device that may store information foruse by processor 220. For example, memory 230 may include a randomaccess memory (RAM) or another type of dynamic storage device, aread-only memory (ROM) device or another type of static storage device,a content addressable memory (CAM), a magnetic and/or optical recordingmemory device and its corresponding drive (e.g., a hard disk drive,optical drive, etc.), and/or a removable form of memory, such as a flashmemory.

Input device 240 may allow an operator to input information into device200. Input device 240 may include, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, apen, a microphone, a remote control, an audio capture device, an imageand/or video capture device, a touch-screen display, and/or another typeof input device. In some implementations, device 200 may be managedremotely and may not include input device 240. In other words, device200 may be “headless” and may not include a keyboard, for example.

Output device 250 may output information to an operator of device 200.Output device 250 may include a display, a printer, a speaker, and/oranother type of output device. For example, device 200 may include adisplay, which may include a liquid-crystal display (LCD) for displayingcontent to the user. In some implementations, device 200 may be managedremotely and may not include output device 250. In other words, device200 may be “headless” and may not include a display, for example.

Communication interface 260 may include a transceiver that enablesdevice 200 to communicate with other devices and/or systems via wirelesscommunications (e.g., radio frequency, infrared, and/or visual optics,etc.), wired communications (e.g., conductive wire, twisted pair cable,coaxial cable, transmission line, fiber optic cable, and/or waveguide,etc.), or a combination of wireless and wired communications.Communication interface 260 may include a transmitter that convertsbaseband signals to radio frequency (RF) signals and/or a receiver thatconverts RF signals to baseband signals. Communication interface 260 maybe coupled to an antenna for transmitting and receiving RF signals.

Communication interface 260 may include a logical component thatincludes input and/or output ports, input and/or output systems, and/orother input and output components that facilitate the transmission ofdata to other devices. For example, communication interface 260 mayinclude a network interface card (e.g., Ethernet card) for wiredcommunications and/or a wireless network interface (e.g., a WiFi) cardfor wireless communications. Communication interface 260 may alsoinclude a universal serial bus (USB) port for communications over acable, a Bluetooth™ wireless interface, a radio-frequency identification(RFID) interface, a near-field communications (NFC) wireless interface,and/or any other type of interface that converts data from one form toanother form.

As will be described in detail below, device 200 may perform certainoperations relating to the operation of a femtocell that includes anetwork slice controller and provides a private MEC service. Device 200may perform these operations in response to processor 220 executingsoftware instructions contained in a computer-readable medium, such asmemory 230. A computer-readable medium may be defined as anon-transitory memory device. A memory device may be implemented withina single physical memory device or spread across multiple physicalmemory devices. The software instructions may be read into memory 230from another computer-readable medium or from another device. Thesoftware instructions contained in memory 230 may cause processor 220 toperform processes described herein. Alternatively, hardwired circuitrymay be used in place of, or in combination with, software instructionsto implement processes described herein. Thus, implementations describedherein are not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitryand software.

Although FIG. 2 shows exemplary components of device 200, in otherimplementations, device 200 may include fewer components, differentcomponents, additional components, or differently arranged componentsthan depicted in FIG. 2. Additionally, or alternatively, one or morecomponents of device 200 may perform one or more tasks described asbeing performed by one or more other components of device 200.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating exemplary components of femtocell 120.The components of femtocell 120 may be implemented, for example, viaprocessor 220 executing instructions from memory 230. Alternatively,some or all of the components of femtocell 120 may be implemented viahard-wired circuitry.

As shown in FIG. 3, femtocell 120 may include a femtocell dashboard 310,a network slice controller 320, a network slice database (DB) 325, aprivate network slice manager 330, a MEC DB 335, one or more distributedMEC units 340 (referred to herein collectively as “distributed MEC units340” and individually as “distributed MEC unit 340”), a private networktraffic manager 350, a UE device interface 352, an application serverinterface 354, a central MEC interface 356, a global traffic controller360, a core network interface 362, a cloud MEC interface 364, and amacrocell interface 366.

Femtocell dashboard 310 may enable an administrator to configurefemtocell 120. For example, femtocell dashboard 310 may provide a userinterface, and/or a set of APIs, to enable the administrator toconfigure network slices and or MEC services managed by femtocell 120.As an example, femtocell dashboard 310 may provide a network sliceconfiguration API to activate, deactivate, and/or modify particularnetwork slices; to assign application IDs and/or other data trafficlabels to a particular network slice; to configure one or more QoSclasses in a particular network slice; and/or to configure other typesof parameters for a network slice.

As another example, femtocell dashboard 310 may provide a MECconfiguration API to activate, deactivate, and/or modify distributed MECunits 340, to assign application IDs and/or other data traffic labels tocentral MEC device 150 and/or to distributed MEC units 340, assign aworkload for an application to a particular distributed MEC unit 340,set a capacity for a particular distributed MEC unit 340, and/orconfigure other types of parameters for MEC.

As yet another example, femtocell dashboard 310 may provide a mappingand data routing API to configure data routing in private network 130.For example, an administrator may pre-configure and/or mix and matchnetwork slices for different locations and/or different devices inprivate network 130. For example, a user application may use multiplenetwork slices at different locations (e.g., a first network slice at afirst location/device, a second network slice at a secondlocation/device, etc.).

Network slice controller 320 may manage network slices in femtocell 120.For example, network slice controller 320 may detect a request for a newconnection from UE device 110, may select a network slice for the newconnection, and may assign the new connection to the selected networkslice. Data traffic associated with the connection may be then processedin accordance with the configuration of the selected network slice. Thenetwork slices may include a private application service network slice.Network slice DB 325 may store information relating to network slicesmanaged by femtocell 120. Exemplary information that may be stored innetwork slice DB 325 is described below with reference to FIG. 4.

Private network slice manager 330 may manage a private applicationservice network slice. For example, private network slice manager 330may determine whether a connection assigned to the private applicationservice network slice is associated with MEC and may determine whetherto route packets destined for MEC to distributed MEC units 340 or tocentral MEC device 150. Furthermore, private network slice manager 330may ensure that packets associated with a connection assigned to theprivate application service network slice stay within private network130 by preventing the packets from being sent via backhaul link 135and/or by preventing the connection from being handed over to macrocell185 if UE device 110 associated with the connection leaves the servicearea of femtocell 120, or if service capabilities of a macrocell (e.g.,signal strength, latency, etc.) exceed that of femtocell 120/privatenetwork 130.

MEC DB 335 may store information relating to distributed MEC units 340.Exemplary information that may be stored in MEC DB 335 is describedbelow with reference to FIG. 5. Distributed MEC unit(s) 340 may performone or more MEC services in femtocell 120, such as, for example, the MECservices described above with respect to central MEC device 150. In someimplementations, distributed MEC unit(s) 340 may be implemented in acontainer or a group of containers referred to as a pod, using acontainer organization platform. Distributed MEC unit(s) 340 may begenerated and activated, or deactivated and the associated resourcesreleased, as needed by femtocell 120 and based on the available capacityof femtocell 120. In femtocell embodiments that include multipledistributed MEC units 340, private network slice manager 330 may loadbalance traffic across distributed MEC units 340 in femtocell 120.Additionally, private network slice managers 330 in different femtocells120 in private network 130, associated with the same private applicationservice network slice, may communicate with each other to load balancetraffic to distributed MEC units 340 in the different femtocells 120.

Private network traffic manager 350 may manage traffic within aparticular private application service network slice. For example,private network traffic manager 350 may maintain a forwarding table,and/or a routing table, for UE devices 110, application servers 140,central MEC device 150, and/or other devices (e.g., network devices), inprivate network 130 and may route traffic assigned to a privateapplication service network slice to destination devices within theprivate application service network slice. UE device interface 352 maybe configured to enable communication with UE devices 110. For example,UE device interface 352 may implement a 4G LTE air interface, a 5G NRair interface, and/or a different type of cellular wireless interface.Application server interface 354 may be configured to enablecommunication with application servers 140. Central MEC interface 356may be configured to enable communication with central MEC device 150.

Global traffic controller 360 may manage global traffic associated withthe femtocell, such as traffic not assigned to a private applicationservice network slice. For example, global traffic controller 360 mayforward traffic, and/or communicate with, to core network 160, MECnetwork 170, and/or macrocell 185. Core network interface 362 may enablecommunication with core network 160 via backhaul link 135. For example,core network interface 362 may implement a set of network interfacessuch as, for example, interfaces to communicate with elements in a 4Gcore network, such as an MME, SGW, PCRF, HSS, etc. and/or interface tocommunicate with elements in a 5G network, such as an AMF, SMF, PCF,CHF, UDM, AF, NEF, NRF, NSSF, etc. Cloud MEC interface 364 may beconfigured to communicate with MEC network 170. Macrocell interface 366may be configured to communicate with macrocells 185 to enable handoversbetween femtocell 120 and macrocell 185.

Although FIG. 3 shows exemplary components of femtocell 120, in otherimplementations, femtocell 120 may include fewer components, differentcomponents, differently arranged components, or additional componentsthan depicted in FIG. 3. Additionally, or alternatively, one or morecomponents of femtocell 120 may perform functions described as beingperformed by one or more other components of femtocell 120.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating exemplary information stored in networkslice DB 325. As shown in FIG. 4, network slice DB 325 may include oneor more network slice records 400. Each network slice record 400 maystore information relating to a network slice. Network slice record 400may include a slice ID field 410 and one or more application fields 420.

Each slice ID field 410 may store information identifying a particularnetwork slice. For example, slice ID field 410 may identify a privateapplication service network slice, an eMBB network slice a URLLC networkslice, an mMTC network slice, a network slice associated with aparticular service or application, a network slice associated with aparticular enterprise, a network slice associated with a particular APN,and/or another type of network slice. Network slice DB 325 may storemultiple network slice records 400 for multiple private applicationservice network slices managed by femtocell 120.

Each application field 420 may store information for an applicationassociated with the particular network slice. Application field 420 mayinclude an application ID field 430 and a QoS/priority field 440.Application ID field 430 may store an ID associated with theapplication. QoS/priority field 440 may store a QoS value and/or apriority value that has been assigned to the application within theparticular network slice. The QoS/priority values may be used toprioritize packets within the particular network slice.

Although FIG. 4 shows exemplary components of network slice DB 325, inother implementations, network slice DB 325 may include fewercomponents, different components, additional components, or differentlyarranged components than depicted in FIG. 4.

FIG. 5 illustrates exemplary components of MEC DB 355. As shown in FIG.5, MEC DB 355 may include one or more MEC records 500. Each MEC record500 may store information relating to a distributed MEC unit 340. MECrecord 500 may include a MEC unit field 510, a location field 520, acapacity field 530, and one or more application fields 540.

MEC unit field 510 may store information identifying a distributed MECunit 340. Location field 520 may store information identifying alocation of the distributed MEC unit 340, such as a particular femtocell120, a particular pod, and/or another type of information specifyingwhere the distributed MEC unit 340 is implemented. Capacity field 530may store information identifying a total capacity, and/or an availablecapacity, for the distributed MEC unit 340. The capacity information mayinclude a memory capacity, a storage capacity, a processing capacity,and/or another type of capacity. The capacity information may be used toload balance data sent to different distributed MEC units 340.

Application field 540 may include an application ID field 550 and aworkload field 560. Application ID field 550 may store an ID associatedwith the application. Workload field 560 may include workloadinformation for the application. The workload information may includeinformation identifying which tasks associated with the applicationshould be processed using MEC, what portion of an applicationsprocessing tasks should be processed using MEC, service requirementsassociated with particular tasks of the application, such as, forexample, a latency requirement, a throughput requirement, a QoSrequirement, a packet delivery rate requirement, and/or another type ofrequirement, whether MEC tasks for the application should be processedusing central MEC device 150 or distributed MEC units 340, and/or othertypes of information that may be used to select how to process MEC tasksassociated with the application.

Although FIG. 5 shows exemplary components of MEC DB 355, in otherimplementations, MEC DB 355 may include fewer components, differentcomponents, additional components, or differently arranged componentsthan depicted in FIG. 5.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of a process for configuring femtocellservice according to an implementation described herein. In someimplementations, process 600 of FIG. 6 may be performed by femtocell120. In other implementations, some or all of process 600 may beperformed by another device or a group of devices separate fromfemtocell 120.

As shown in FIG. 6, process 600 may include providing a network sliceconfiguration API (block 610) and receiving information identifyingwhich application IDs to assign to which network slices (block 620). Forexample, an administrator may activate a private application servicenetwork slice and select, via the network slice configuration API, oneor more applications to associate with the private application servicenetwork slice. Process 600 may further include assigning the identifiedapplication IDs to the identified network slices and configuring messagerouting for the identified network slices (block 630). For example,femtocell 120 may update network slice DB 325 to generate a new slicerecord 400 for the activated private application service network sliceand associate the selected one or more applications with the activatedprivate application service network slice.

Process 600 may further include providing a MEC configuration API (block640) and receive information identifying applications for MEC in theprivate application service network slice (block 650). Process 600 mayfurther include receiving configuration information for distributed MECunits in the femtocell (block 660) and receiving, via the MECconfiguration API, information relating to a central MEC in the privateapplication service network slice (block 670).

For example, the administrator may use the MEC configuration API toactivate a distributed MEC unit 340 in femtocell 120 and assign anapplication to the activated distributed MEC unit 340. As an example,the administrator may select to send packets associated with theapplication, which include a first label, to the distributed MEC unit340 and to send packets with associated with the application, whichinclude a second label, to central MEC device 150. As another example,the administrator may select, via the MEC configuration API, a firstportion of the workload associated with the application to be processedby distributed MEC unit 340, a second portion of the workload associatedwith the application to be processed by central MEC device 150, and athird portion of the workload associated with the application to beprocessed locally in UE device 110.

Process 600 may further include configuring routing of packets for theidentified applications based on the configuration of the distributedMEC units and the central MEC in the private application service networkslice (block 680). For example, femtocell 120 may update MEC DB 335 togenerate a MEC 500 record for the activated distributed MEC unit 340,associate the selected one or more applications with the distributed MECunit 340, and to store the receive workload information relating to theapplication in the generated MEC record 500. Furthermore femtocell 120may update a forwarding and/or routing table to direct packetsassociated with the application to distributed MEC unit 340 and/orcentral MEC device 350 based on the selected labels.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of a process for managing data traffic ina femtocell according to an implementation described herein. In someimplementations, process 700 of FIG. 7 may be performed by femtocell120. In other implementations, some or all of process 700 may beperformed by another device or a group of devices separate fromfemtocell 120.

As shown in FIG. 7, process 700 may include receiving a request for aconnection from UE device 110 via cellular wireless signals (block 710).For example, UE device 110 may attach to femtocell 120 and send aconnection request to femtocell 120 for an application running on UEdevice 110. A network slice associated with the connection request maybe identified based on an application ID (block 720). For example,femtocell 12 may access network slice DB 325 to identify to whichnetwork slice the application associated with the connection request isassigned.

A determination may be made as to whether the application is associatedwith a private application service network slice (block 730). If theapplication is not associated with a private application service networkslice (block 730—NO), a determination may be made as to whether to routethe connection to a cloud MEC (block 740). For example, global trafficcontroller 360 may access a forwarding table and/or routing table todetermine whether the application associated with connection is assignedto communicate with cloud MEC device 175.

If it is determined that the connection is to be routed to the cloud MEC(block 740—YES), packets associated with the connection may be routed tocloud MEC device 175 (block 745). If it is determined that theconnection is not to be routed to the cloud MEC (block 740—NO), packetsassociated with the connection may be routed to the identified networkslice in the core network (block 750). For example, femtocell 120 maysend the packets via backhaul link 135 to a gateway device (e.g., a PGW,a UPF, etc.) associated with the identified network slice. If a networkslice cannot be identified for the application, femtocell 120 may selecta default network slice, such as, for example, an eMBB network slice.

Returning to block 730, if the application is associated with a privateapplication service network slice (block 730—YES), a determination maybe made as to whether to route the connection to a private MEC (block760). For example, femtocell 12 may access MEC DB 335 to determinewhether the application has been assigned for MEC processing. If it isdetermined that the connection is not to be routed to the private MEC(block 760—NO), the packets associated with the connection may be routedto a destination device in the private network (block 765). For example,femtocell 120 may route the packets to application server 140, anotherUE device 110, and/or another type of destination device in privatenetwork 130. If it is determined that the connection is to be routed tothe private MEC (block 760—YES), a determination may be made as towhether to use distributed MEC (block 770). For example, femtocell 120may access MEC DB 335 to determine whether to use a distributed MEC unit340 or central MEC device 150. If it is determined that the connectionis to be routed to the distributed MEC (block 770—YES), packets may berouted to a distributed MEC unit 340 in femtocell 120, If it isdetermined that the connection is not to be routed to the distributedMEC (block 770—NO), packets may be routed to central MEC device 150.

FIG. 8 illustrates a first exemplary signal flow 800 according to animplementation described herein. Signal flow 800 may be associated witha private network in a factory. As shown in FIG. 8, signal flow 800 mayinclude femtocell 120 managing a private application service networkslice that enables devices in the factory to communicate using cellularwireless signals. Assume the factory includes IoT devices that use MECto perform calculations. For example, the IoT devices may includerobotic arms that use computer vision to manipulate objects on aproduction line and may use MEC to perform computer vision processingand to update the computer vision model. The computer vision modelingmay have a low latency requirement and may performed using distributedMEC (DMEC) units 340 in femtocell 120 (signals 810). Updating thecomputer vision model may require larger processing capacity and memoryand may have not have a low latency requirement. Therefore, data packetsused to update the computer vision model may be sent to central MECdevice 150 (signals 820). Furthermore, the IoT devices may use areporting application to send reports to an analytics server 802 inprivate network 130 (signals 830).

Additionally, the factory may use cloud MEC for other processing tasksthat do not require low latency or may use cloud MEC for capacityoverflow when distributed MEC units 340 and/or central MEC device 150run out of processing capacity. Thus, femtocell 120 may send packets forcapacity overflow MEC to cloud MEC device 175 (signals 840).

Femtocell 120 may further enable public internet access for employees ofthe factory. Thus, connection requests from UE devices 110 associatedwith the employees may be routed to core network 160 via a core networkdevice 804 (e.g., SGW, UPF, etc.) and a PDN gateway deice 806 (signals850 and 855).

FIG. 9 illustrates a second exemplary signal flow 900 according to animplementation described herein. Signal flow 900 may be associated witha private network in a hospital. As shown in FIG. 9, signal flow 900 mayinclude femtocell 120 managing a private application service networkslice that enables devices in the hospital to communicate using cellularwireless signals. Assume the factory includes medical devices that use amedical management application that employs MEC to perform calculationsand uses a first private application service network slice. For example,the medical devices may include health monitoring devices that usemachine learning to predict whether a patient's condition is likely tochange in the near future. The prediction calculations may have a lowlatency requirement and may be performed using distributed MEC (DMEC)units 340 in femtocell 120 (signals 910). Updating the machine learningmodel may require larger processing capacity and memory and may have nothave a low latency requirement. Therefore, data packets used to updateand/or retrain the machine learning model may be sent to central MECdevice 150 (signals 920). Furthermore, medical staff in the hospital mayuse an employee messaging application that sends and receives data withhigh privacy requirements. Therefore, the messaging application may berestricted to a second private application service network slice withinthe hospital and may be managed by a private network messaging server902. Therefore, messages sent and received using the private messagingapplication may be routed by femtocell 120 to private network messagingserver 902 (signals 930).

Additionally, the hospital may use cloud MEC for content delivery for apatient entertainment application. Thus, when a patient selects toconsume content using the patient entertainment application (e.g., towatch a movie), the request may be routed by femtocell 120 to cloud MECdevice 175, as cloud MEC device 175 may host the requested content(signals 940). Femtocell 120 may further enable public internet accessfor patients and visitors to the hospital. Thus, connection requestsfrom UE devices 110 associated with patients or visitors may be routedto core network 160 via a core network device 904 (e.g., SGW, UPF, etc.)and a PDN gateway deice 906 (signals 950 and 955).

In the preceding specification, various preferred embodiments have beendescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will, however,be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto,and additional embodiments may be implemented, without departing fromthe broader scope of the invention as set forth in the claims thatfollow. The specification and drawings are accordingly to be regarded inan illustrative rather than restrictive sense.

For example, while a series of blocks have been described with respectto FIGS. 6 and 7, and a series of signals have been described withrespect to FIGS. 8 and 9, the order of the blocks, and/or signals, maybe modified in other implementations. Further, non-dependent blocksand/or signals may be performed in parallel.

It will be apparent that systems and/or methods, as described above, maybe implemented in many different forms of software, firmware, andhardware in the implementations illustrated in the figures. The actualsoftware code or specialized control hardware used to implement thesesystems and methods is not limiting of the embodiments. Thus, theoperation and behavior of the systems and methods were described withoutreference to the specific software code—it being understood thatsoftware and control hardware can be designed to implement the systemsand methods based on the description herein.

Further, certain portions, described above, may be implemented as acomponent that performs one or more functions. A component, as usedherein, may include hardware, such as a processor, an ASIC, or a FPGA,or a combination of hardware and software (e.g., a processor executingsoftware).

It should be emphasized that the terms “comprises”/“comprising” whenused in this specification are taken to specify the presence of statedfeatures, integers, steps or components but does not preclude thepresence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps,components or groups thereof.

The term “logic,” as used herein, may refer to a combination of one ormore processors configured to execute instructions stored in one or morememory devices, may refer to hardwired circuitry, and/or may refer to acombination thereof. Furthermore, a logic may be included in a singledevice or may be distributed across multiple, and possibly remote,devices.

For the purposes of describing and defining the present invention, it isadditionally noted that the term “substantially” is utilized herein torepresent the inherent degree of uncertainty that may be attributed toany quantitative comparison, value, measurement, or otherrepresentation. The term “substantially” is also utilized herein torepresent the degree by which a quantitative representation may varyfrom a stated reference without resulting in a change in the basicfunction of the subject matter at issue.

To the extent the aforementioned embodiments collect, store, or employpersonal information of individuals, it should be understood that suchinformation shall be collected, stored, and used in accordance with allapplicable laws concerning protection of personal information.Additionally, the collection, storage and use of such information may besubject to consent of the individual to such activity, for example,through well known “opt-in” or “opt-out” processes as may be appropriatefor the situation and type of information. Storage and use of personalinformation may be in an appropriately secure manner reflective of thetype of information, for example, through various encryption andanonymization techniques for particularly sensitive information.

No element, act, or instruction used in the present application shouldbe construed as critical or essential to the embodiments unlessexplicitly described as such. Also, as used herein, the article “a” isintended to include one or more items. Further, the phrase “based on” isintended to mean “based, at least in part, on” unless explicitly statedotherwise.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: implementing, by a basestation, a network slice controller that manages a plurality of networkslices in a private network and assigns particular data connections toparticular network slices of the plurality of network slices; providing,by the base station, a backhaul link to a core network using aninfrastructure of the private network; receiving, by the base station, arequest for a connection from a user equipment (UE) device via wirelesssignals; detecting, by the base station, that the request is a requestfor a private local data connection associated with a private network;selecting, by the base station, a private application service networkslice, from the plurality of network slices using the network slicecontroller, in response to detecting that the request is a request for aprivate local data connection associated with a private network; androuting, by the base station, packets associated with the connection todestination devices in the private network using wireless signals whilepreventing the packets associated with the connection from leaving theprivate network via the backhaul connection from the base station to thecore network via the infrastructure of the private network.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the base station includes at least onefemtocell.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: providing anetwork slice configuration Application Programming Interface (API) toan administrator associated with the base station, wherein the networkslice configuration API enables the administrator to configureparticular ones of the plurality of network slices.
 4. The method ofclaim 3, further comprising: receiving, via the network sliceconfiguration API, information identifying one or more applicationidentifiers that are to be assigned to the private application servicenetwork slice; and assigning the one or more application identifiers tothe private application service network slice.
 5. The method of claim 3,further comprising: receiving, via the network slice configuration API,information identifying a plurality of Quality of Service (QoS) classesfor the private application service network slice; and configuring theplurality of QoS classes for the private application service networkslice.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: providing aMulti-access Edge Computing (MEC) configuration Application ProgrammingInterface (API) to an administrator associated with the device, whereinthe MEC configuration API enables the administrator to configure MEC forthe private application service network slice.
 7. The method of claim 6,further comprising: receiving, via the MEC configuration API,information identifying one or more application identifiers that are tobe processed using MEC; and routing packets associated with theidentified one or more application identifiers to a MEC deviceassociated with the private application service network slice.
 8. Themethod of claim 6, further comprising: receiving, via the MECconfiguration API, an instruction to activate, by the base station, adistributed MEC unit associated with the device; receiving, via the MECconfiguration API, information identifying a particular one of the oneor more application identifiers to route to the distributed MEC unit;and routing packets associated with the identified particular one of theone or more application identifiers to the distributed MEC unitassociated with the base station.
 9. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving an application packet via the connection, whereinthe application packet includes an application identifier; selecting adestination for the application packet based on the applicationidentifier, wherein the destination corresponds to an applicationserver, a Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) unit associated with thebase station, or a centralized MEC device associated with the privatenetwork; and routing the received application packet to the selecteddestination.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receivinganother request for another connection from another UE device viawireless signals; determining that the other request identified theother connection as an enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) connection;selecting an eMBB slice, from the plurality of network slices, for theother connection, in response to determining that the other requestidentified the other connection as an eMBB connection; and routingpackets associated with the other connection to a core networkassociated with a provider of wireless communication services via thebackhaul connection associated with the base station.
 11. The method ofclaim 10, further comprising: determining that the other request isassociated with an application configured for Multi-access EdgeComputing (MEC); and routing packets associated with the otherconnection to a MEC device via the backhaul connection associated withthe base station.
 12. A base station comprising: a processor configuredto: implement a network slice controller that manages a plurality ofnetwork slices in a private network and assigns particular dataconnections to particular network slices of the plurality of networkslices; provide a backhaul link to a core network using aninfrastructure of the private network; receive a request for aconnection from a user equipment (UE) device via wireless signals;detect that the request is a request for a private local data connectionassociated with a private network; select a private application servicenetwork slice, from the plurality of network slices using the networkslice controller, in response to detecting that the request is a requestfor a private local data connection associated with a private network;and route packets associated with the connection to destination devicesin the private network using wireless signals while preventing thepackets associated with the connection from leaving the private networkvia the backhaul connection from the base station to the core networkvia the infrastructure of the private network.
 13. The base station ofclaim 12, wherein the base station includes at least one femtocell. 14.The base station of claim 12, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to: provide a network slice configuration ApplicationProgramming Interface (API) to an administrator associated with the basestation, wherein the network slice configuration API enables theadministrator to configure particular ones of the plurality of networkslices; receive, via the network slice configuration API, informationidentifying one or more application identifiers that are to be assignedto the private application service network slice; and assign the one ormore application identifiers to the private application service networkslice.
 15. The base station of claim 14, wherein the processor isfurther configured to: receive, via the network slice configuration API,information identifying a plurality of Quality of Service (QoS) classesfor the private application service network slice; and configure theplurality of QoS classes for the private application service networkslice.
 16. The device of claim 12, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to: provide a Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) configurationApplication Programming Interface (API) to an administrator associatedwith the base station, wherein the MEC configuration API enables theadministrator to configure MEC for the private application servicenetwork slice; receive, via the MEC configuration API, informationidentifying one or more application identifiers that are to be processedusing MEC; and route packets associated with the identified one or moreapplication identifiers to a MEC device associated with the privateapplication service network slice.
 17. The device of claim 16, whereinthe processor is further configured to: receive, via the MECconfiguration API, an instruction to activate, by the base station, adistributed MEC unit associated with the base station; receive, via theMEC configuration API, information identifying a particular one of theone or more application identifiers to route to the distributed MECunit; and route packets associated with the identified particular one ofthe one or more application identifiers to the distributed MEC unitassociated with the base station.
 18. The base station of claim 12,wherein the processor is further configured to: receive another requestfor another connection from another UE device via wireless signals;determine that the other request identified the other connection as anenhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) connection; select an eMBB slice, fromthe plurality of network slices, for the other connection, in responseto determining that the other request identified the other connection asan eMBB connection; and routing packets associated with the otherconnection to a core network associated with a provider of wirelesscommunication services via the backhaul connection associated with thebase station.
 19. The base station of claim 18, wherein the processor isfurther configured to: determine that the other request is associatedwith an application configured for Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC);and route packets associated with the other connection to a MEC devicevia the backhaul connection associated with the base station.
 20. Afemtocell comprising: a wireless transceiver configured to send andreceive wireless signals; a traffic controller configured to provide abackhaul link to a core network using an infrastructure of the privatenetwork; and a network slice controller configured to: manage aplurality of network slices in a private network and assign particulardata connections to particular network slices of the plurality ofnetwork slices; receive a request for a connection from a user equipment(UE) device via wireless signals using the wireless transceiver; detectthat the request is a request for a private local data connectionassociated with a private network; select a private application servicenetwork slice, from the plurality of network slices, for the connection,in response to detecting that the request is a request for a privatelocal data connection associated with a private network; and routepackets associated with the connection to destination devices in theprivate network using the wireless transceiver while preventing thepackets associated with the connection from leaving the private networkvia the backhaul connection from the base station to the core networkvia the infrastructure of the private network.